Phenology and Yield of the Hybrid Seedless Grape ‘BRS Melodia’ Grown in an Annual Double Cropping System in a Subtropical Area

Abstract

The development and evaluation of new cultivars of seedless grapes (Vitis spp.) with good yield and adapted to different edaphoclimatic conditions are essential to increase the competitiveness of the productive system. The present work had the objective to characterize the phenology and the yield of the new hybrid seedless grape ‘BRS Melodia’, grown in an annual double cropping system in a subtropical region. The evaluations were carried out during the 2013 summer cropping period and the 2014 off-season cropping period in a commercial area located in Marialva, PR, Brazil. The ‘BRS Melodia’ scions were grafted onto ‘IAC 766 Campinas’ rootstocks, trained in an overhead trellis system spaced at 2.5 × 2.5 m. In both seasons, the duration in days of the main phenological phases of the vines, as well as their thermal demand and their physicochemical and productive characteristics were evaluated. The ‘BRS Melodia’ seedless grapevines presented a cycle of 138 days and yield of 23.85 tons.ha−1 in the summer season, and 121 days and yield of 19.4 tons.ha−1 in the off-season crop. The soluble solids, titratable acidity, and maturation index were 15.1 °Brix, 0.5% tartaric acid and 28.5, respectively, in the summer season and 15.4 °Brix, 0.6% tartaric acid and 25.6 in the off-season crop, indicating a possibility of cultivate this new hybrid seedless grape under an annual double cropping system in subtropical conditions.

Agronomic performance of ‘BRS Melodia’ seedless table grape grafted onto different rootstocks

“…1b). Koyama et al (2020), upon carrying out a study with 'BRS Melodia' grafted onto IAC 572 in the subtropical climate of Marialva, in the state of Paraná, Brazil, with rainfall distributed throughout the year, obtained mean values ranging from 30.8 to 33.7 clusters per vine, values lower than those found in the present study. However, Ibacache et al (2016) studied three cultivars of grapes, two of which are seedless-'Flame Seedless' and 'Thompson Seedless'-, on different rootstocks in semi-arid conditions in Chile and were not able to observe differences in the average of treatments after six growing cycles.…”

“…These drier cycles had higher temperatures and sunlight, which favored plant health, an increase in photosynthetic rates, and accumulation of carbohydrates, resulting in an increase in berry weight and size. Changes commonly occur in the weight and size of grapes, considering that the management practices and climate variations of each crop season can lead to different responses (Costa et al 2020, Koyama et al 2020, Leão et al 2020b, 2020c. In addition, despite the variations observed in the physicochemical characteristics of the berries over the production cycles, all the values observed are in accordance with those recommended for commercialization of table grapes and also with the characteristics described for the cultivar 'BRS Melodia' in the São Francisco Valley (Brasil 2002, Ritschel et al 2021).…”

Rootstock and potassium fertilization, in terms of phenology, thermal demand and chemical evolution, of berries on Niagara Rosada grapevine under subtropical conditions

“…The minimum point of the equation was obtained 28 days after veraison in the second cycle, when berries presented 0.74% (Fig. 2b), which is comparable to other table grape cultivars produced under subtropical regions of Brazil, such as BRS Vitória (Maia et al 2016), BRS Ísis (Ahmed et al 2019), and BRS Melodia (Koyama et al 2020).…”

Colonization of Aspergillus carbonarius and accumulation of ochratoxin A in Vitis vinifera, Vitis labrusca, and hybrid grapes – research on the most promising alternatives for organic viticulture

“…Moreover, photoperiod, temperature, the incidence of rainfall, organic matter content, and soil water availability also vary according to the vine region. Such conditions influence the expression of genes related to various characteristics of the vines, which may affect, for example, the anthocyanin accumulation, phenolic composition, TSS, and pH 27,28 …”